The legend of Spyro - A new beginning(For real this time)
by G.raven42
Summary: A re-imagining of the legend of spyro, were the character of classic spyro is put into the story of the legend games.
1. Prologue

prolouge

Flames engulfed the torches as a large red dragon opened his jaws to release his bright orange fire. The circular door that the torches were next to, opened with a creek, and he walked through. "In the year of the dragon, in a world beyond the realms..." the dragon began to narrate. "I like all the others, awaited the birth of the dragon of whom the prophecies foretold... but the dark master heard the prophecies as well. I should have hidden the eggs long ago, but I… I thought we were ready. I thought they were safe. Oh how I was wrong." The dragon walked up to a large pedestal with a red circular pillow and a purple egg sitting on top. The egg was dark purple with bright purple spots, and it was laying in the center of the pillow.

Low shelves with nests and eggs lined the rest of the room. In the center, was some type of circular platform, big enough for a full grown dragon to stand on. The surface of the platform looked like a smooth glowing blue stone with streaks of white running through it. There were two doors in the room, their was the one the red dragon had entered from, then their was another, right across the room that was still closed. Just then, the torches the red dragon had lit to open the door moments ago, went out and the dark wooden door closed.

The red dragon walked up to the only purple egg in the room that sat atop the pedestal. He looked down at the egg with a small flicker of hope in his eyes. Unfortunately, this moment did not last long. The hope in the dragon's eyes drained away and was replaced with worry and guilt, when a loud explosion followed by a deep rumbling sound interrupted his thoughts. Just then, a yellow dragon came out of the door opposite the one the red dragon had emerged from moments prior. "Save it! The dark armies, have come!" The yellow dragon exclaimed. The red dragon seemed to have gone "deer in the headlights",so the yellow dragon continued. "Go! We will save the rest!"

Finally, the red dragon replied. "I'll be back... ready to fight!" The yellow dragon seemed worried. "No Ignitus! You must protect the egg of the purple dragon! It is your duty as the leader of the guardians!" It seemed as though he wanted to say more, but the red dragon known as Ignitus, cut him off. "Yes, I am the leader Volteer! And as leader, I am going to come back and help save the grotto!" The yellow dragon known as Volteer, looked distraught and slightly annoyed. Suddenly, a loud explosion followed by a large crack appearing on the far wall, indicated that the dark armies were trying to break in. "Ignitus!" Volteer addressed him as he and his leader pulled their attention away from the crack in the wall. "I know you feel like you need to make up for the mistakes of the past! And I know you feel like you're responsible for everything that has happened, and everything that will happen! but we don't have time to argue! So would you please just put aside your personal turmoil, because it's clouding your judgment!" Ignitus was now focusing entirely on Volteer. "We will survive without you. You must not fail to do your duty." Volteer didn't even seem to trust himself when he said this, but Ignitus didn't seem to notice.

"O.k." Was Ignitus's only response. Ignitus turned around and picked up the purple egg off of the pedestal. When Ignitus turned back, he saw that Volteer had moved out of the way of the open door. Volteer gave him a forced smile, and nodded. Ignitus turned to the door, unfolded his wings, and flew through it. Once Ignitus was outside, he landed on the mud of the swap floor next to a river that reflected the night sky, and looked back up at the temple he had just left. He saw an explosion that caused a chunk of the temple to fall down the cliff side it had been constructed on top of. It was followed by a strike of lightning coming out of the freshly made hole, indicating that Volteer was the first of the three guardians to attack the dark armies.

"They need me…" Ignitus remembered what his friend had told him. We will survive without you. You must not fail to do your duty. Another streak of lightning came from the temple, followed by several shards of ice, indicating Cyril's entrance into the fray. "I don't care what Volteer says! They need my help! They need my support... " Ignitus then remembered something else his friend had told him. You must protect the egg of the purple dragon! Ignitus quickly looked for a safe place to put the egg. He quickly decided on placing the egg into an overturned mushroom. "I'll be back for you." Ignitus then unfolded his wings again, and took off towards the temple.

Unfortunately, when Ignitus returned, he found that the egg was gone. So was the mushroom. He quickly realized that the river had pulled in the egg, and it was now drifting away. Ignitus flew back into the air and tried frantically to find the egg, but it was long gone now, and there were too many branching paths. It would take forever to figure out where it had gone. Ignitus eventually gave up, and landed back onto the floor of the swamp. Ignitus decided to hope for the best. "May the ancestors look after you!" He shouted into the air. "May they look after us all."


	2. Exposition! Oh boy!

Exposition! Oh boy!

The tree branch rustled and creaked as the small dragon launched off of it. He tried to grab onto another branch not far away, but he fell short and his chest hit the branch. He dug his claws into the wood, half of his body hanging in the air. He tried to pull himself up, but unfortunately, the branch wasn't strong enough to hold him, and it snapt. "uhf!" The dragon fell to the ground with a thud, his back hitting the moist mossy ground. The branch hit his stomach and fell to the ground next to him, making a sloshing sound as it came into contact with the muddy soil.

The small purple dragon looked up into the cloud filled sky, and sighed. The small purple dragon known as Spyro, had never seen the sun before. There were always too many clouds tinted with a dull orange glow. He barely even saw the moons, but unlike the sun, there were three moons, and one of them took up half the nights sky, so they were hard to miss. Still, Spyro had always dreamed of seeing both a sunny day, and the night sky, in all there glory.

Spyro was a purple dragon, obviously, but he also had light purple spots on his back, a yellow underbelly, and yellow horns that came up, then slicked back down, and curved back up slightly at the ends. He had orangish red membranes on his crest and on his wings. The base color of his wings were yellow like his horns. He had pearly white sharp teeth and claws, along with purple eyes. Finally, at the end of his tail was a sort of roundish yellow spike, much like his horns.

Spyro pulled his back out of the muddy, mossy ground, and shook himself like a wet dog. Spyro, as you might have guest, lives in a swamp. He is also accompanied by, what you might call, his family. Two dragonflies that had adopted him after they found his egg washed up onto the riverbank outside there home, and their son, sparx. Sparx is almost exactly like a brother for Spyro. After all, they were born the same day, and were raised by the same parents. Not to mention, Sparx and Spyro behave with each other exactly the way you'd expect real brothers to. They goof around with each other, get on each others nerves, and love each other unconditionally whether they outwardly express it or not.

"Nice one Spyro! Hey, maybe lay off the frog weeds, K.? Ya now, if you didn't eat so much, you may not be so heavy." Spyro looked up to see Sparx mocking him from above the branch he'd just broken. Sparx was a yellow glowing dragonfly, but the dragonflies in this world are much different from the ones in our world. He had arms and hands, for one thing, but his face also looked slightly more humanoid. He had two distinct, noticeable eyes, and a mouth with white flat teeth. He also only had three fingers on each hand. However, he also had some of the normal characteristics of a dragonfly, like the tail, the wings, and the antennae. "ha ha, very funny…" Sparx cut Spyro off. "thank you! Thank you! I'll be here all week!" "all week hu? Than I guess i'll be catching you soon." Spyro gave a devious smile. "ya know, we should really work on our jokes more." Sparx seemed less than thrilled with the jokes that had just been made. "Hey! Don't blame me! Blame the writer!"

"The wha…"

"Never mind."

"… Anyway… see ya later sucker!" Sparx quickly flew away in the opposite direction. "Yeah you'd better run!" Spyro smiled and ran after Sparx.

Spyro chased Sparx over a few small hills, and across some branches for a short while, until they came to a giant snake skull that marked the entrance to a tunnel. Spyro and his family lived in a part of the swamp that was slightly separated from the rest, because the area was kind of bowl shaped. This giant snake skeleton created one of the only easy access points to the rest of the swamp, but they were never aloud to leave this slightly secluded area. "Hey were not aloud in their! That's cheating!" despite saying this, Spyro felt like he wanted to enter the tunnel. Spyro was, by nature, a very adventurous spirit. He liked exploring places he'd never seen, and he enjoyed getting into places he wasn't supposed to be. "Really? I didn't take you for the kind of guy that would be afraid to take a risk." Spyro smiled "I'm not." "well then… catch up, or give up chunky!"

Sparx flew through the teeth of the snake skull and disappeared into the tunnel. Spyro squeezed through the gap behind him and followed. It was fairly dark, but Spyro could still see where he was going, and he could see that the rib cage of the snake was what was keeping the tunnel from caving in on itself. There were drops of water falling from the ceiling, creating ripples in the water that filled about an inch of the ground. This amount of humidity probably explained why there was so much moss covering the walls and tree roots. Remember, their currently under ground, so the roots of nearby trees are crossing through the tunnel.

Spyro began moving his paws forward, creating a splashing sound in the water. "Where's that little nat gone now?" Spyro mumbled to himself. "Hey have you seen a giant purple thing around here? I seem to have lost mine." Sparx's voice broke the steady sound of water droplets. Spyro tried to creep forward, but obviously, the water on the ground made that impossible, so Spyro just ran forward instead. The tunnel was twisty and curvy, so Spyro didn't realize it until it was right in front of him, but there was a frog weed in the tunnel. "Was Sparx talking to you?" In response to Spyro's question, the frog weed shot it's tongue out at Spyro. Spyro ducked out of the way, and then jumped over the small animal. "Thanks anyway!"

Spyro exited the tunnel and saw Sparx fly right by his nose. He quickly moved his paws to try and catch Sparx, but when he opened his paws again, he found that he'd missed. Spyro looked up again and saw his friend flying around in front of him. He continued chasing Sparx around, leaping from spot to spot, wagging his tail furiously like a little puppy. Unfortunately, this moment was not going to last. There was a reason there parents didn't want them straying this far from home. Suddenly, a large figure jumped out of the trees above and grabbed the startled Sparx. The figure then turned and ran. Once Spyro's brain actually comprehended what just happened, he realized that Sparx's capturer was an ape.

"Hey! No one messes with Sparx except me! And it's hilarious when I do it!" Spyro chased the ape around a corner and skidded to a halt. In front of him was a steep cliff that was just too tall for him to climb. Atop this cliff was a much larger ape standing next to two smaller apes. In his hands he held a lantern with a burnt out candle that served as a prison for Sparx. The funny thing about this scenario, was that Sparx glowed brightly enough to serve as a real light source for the lantern. "Ha ha ha! Nice lamp!" Spyro laughed hysterically at Sparx's situation. "Hey Spyro! When you're done laughing, could you help me out?" "Oh! R-right… sure." Spyro finished laughing and was interrupted by the large ape holding onto Sparx. "I don't think so… Don't let him get away!" In response to this, the apes standing next to the large one, jumped down, and a couple more apes jumped out from the tree tops. All of them were slowly creeping towards Spyro menacingly. Upon closer examination, it was apparent that, these apes wore clothes. Most of their clothes were just made of ragged cloth, but they also only wore pants. The front of their chests were bare, but their backs, arms, and their heads, were completely covered in thick fur.

"Oh! You wanna go? I could take on all of you in my sleep!" Spyro grinned and narrowed his eyes. He then proceeded to enter his hunting stance. He lowered the front part of his body to the ground, and pulled his elbows back to his hips. He picked out one of the apes and began wiggling his haunches. Without warning, Spyro sprung forward and knocked over one of the apes. The ape he had slammed into, banged its head on the ground and fell unconscious. Realizing he had knocked out his enemy, Spyro quickly turned around and charged at two other apes with his horns pointed forward. Once he reached them, he flicked his head upward with a great amount of force, and because he was now in between the two apes, they were flung through the air in opposite directions away from Spyro. The one that was flung to Spyro's left, slammed into two other apes, and the one flung to Spyro's right, slammed into a tree, being knocked unconscious.

Suddenly, there was a hissing sound next to Spyro. He looked around frantically, and spotted a stick of dynamite right next to him. Spyro didn't know what dynamite was, but he figured it must be bad, so he smacked it away with his tail. Unfortunately, it wasn't tossed far enough, and when it blew up, Spyro was launched through the air and slammed into a tree. Thankfully, Spyro wasn't knocked unconscious, but there were still four apes that were ready to fight. Spyro stood up, coughing up smoke. "So… red hissing sticks are bad… good to know."

Suddenly, the large ape that was still on the cliff blowed into a horn that was hooked onto a chain around his neck, and a loud distinct sound came out of it. He dropped the horn, and pulled out a stick of dynamite. Spyro instantly realized that he was the one throwing the 'red hissing sticks'. "Seriously!" Spyro yelled at the large ape, and attracted its attention along with the other apes. "You're the biggest guy here, and you're too cowardly to actually enter the fight!?" The other apes paused and looked at their leader. "Shut up! I'm not a coward!" The other apes looked back at Spyro. "Attack!" The leader said this as he threw his now lit stick of dynamite at Spyro. Spyro timed it just right, and smacked the dynamite away with his horns. The dynamite was flung into the group of four apes, and when it blew up, all four apes were launched through the air in different directions.

Just then, more apes appeared from the treetops. Spyro figured that this was just a delayed response from the sound of the horn. These apes were much quicker. They leaped at Spyro, and he was only able to knock away one of them, before they pinned him down. The apes were obviously struggling, but Spyro remained grounded. The large ape picked up a blade that had been stuck into the ground blade first next to him, and he jumped down in front of Spyro. He set down the lantern that Sparx was in, and addressed Spyro. "You want to call me a coward? Well how's this for cowardice!?" The ape lifted his blade above the lantern Sparx was in, and Sparx started freaking out. "Uh!… Spyro! Could you help!? Please!? Do something!"

Spyro instantly realized he was in between a rock and a hard place. Without thinking, Spyro closed his eyes, clenched his jaw… and released a ball of fire! It slammed into the large ape's chest, and it's back smashed into the side of the cliff, letting out a high pitched scream of agony. This sudden burst of fire startled the apes holding Spyro down, making them loosen, if not, let go of their grip. Spyro took this opportunity to leap up into the air, and landed back on the ground a few feet away from the apes. He didn't stick the landing, so he was laying down on the ground with his head held up, when he looked at the bits of fire still on the ground. "That! Was AWESOME!" Spyro had a stupid grin on his face. The large ape had just finished putting out the fire that had collected on its fur. "Take care of him! I gotta report to Cynder!" The ape said this and ran away.

"Bye, Felicia!" Spyro still had a smile on his face, but it went away when he tried to breath more fire. He opened his mouth and a tiny little flame was coughed up. "Aaaw! Seriously!?" Spyro noticed that the other apes were still coming towards him, so he took his stance again, but the ape he had selected was ready this time. Spyro launched forward, and the ape rolled forward, so Spyro overshot his target. Thankfully, Spyro was able to land on his feet and skid to a halt. He was now facing his enemies again, and he charged forward. Spyro slammed his horns into one of the apes, and it was knocked into three of the others.

Now, all of the apes were out cold. Spyro walked over to Sparx, and smashed the lantern open with his horns. "You K. Bro?" Spyro asked Sparx. "You almost touched me dude… wait… what!?"

Spyro and Sparx had returned home after that, and were trying to explain what had happened, to their parents. "So, right when Sparx was about to be crushed, I let out a blast of fire! Isn't that awesome!? To bad I don't know how I did it…" Spyro's parents looked at each other with worried expressions on their faces. "… Is something wrong? I mean… besides the fact that I can, apparently, breath fire." "It's just…" Spyro's dad began. "We new this day would come… the day we would have to tell you the truth." Spyro narrowed his eyes. "You see…" his mom seemed to be having a difficult time trying to explain something. "You… you're… kind of…" Spyro's dad interjected with, "You're adopted."

"No! Really!?" Spyro said this in the most sarcastic way physically possible, and his foster parents noticed he wasn't being serious. "You new? But… how?" Spyro looks at you, the reader, then looks back at his foster parents. "I'm not even gonna answer that question." "Well… I guess it wasn't to surprising… but if you knew, why didn't you ask us about it before?" Spyro's dad looked legitimately confused. "Well… I guess I figured you'd tell me about it eventually, so I just decided to enjoy my life as it unfolded. I had no doubt you would tell me when you were ready." "That's surprisingly mature, especially coming from someone like you." "Really?" "Ya, it is."

"Hey, I think we're getting a little off topic here, O.K.?" "Sparx is right. Spyro, we don't know a lot about your species, other than the fact that you're a dragon, and I think the dragons are currently in some sort of dispute with the apes, but we don't know much more than that." Spyro looked a little disappointed. "Honey, can a talk to you for a moment?" Spyro's mom asked his dad. "Sure." Spyro's foster parents flew a few feet away and started speaking quietly with each other. They came back and Spyro's dad addressed him again. "I think you should live your life to the fullest. You should be aloud to make your own decisions, but your mother, feels differently." Spyro's mom began speaking. "Your dad thinks you should go out on your own, but you're only twelve! I don't think you should go!" Spyro looked from his mom, to his dad, to Sparx, then back to his mom again.

"I know you want what you think is best for me, but…" Spyro looked into the sky, and above the trees. "… but i've always wanted to explore the world! I've always wanted to see what else is out there!" Spyro looked back at his parents. "And know… I can do just that!" Spyro's mom looked sad, but his dad's expression was hard to read. "Hey! Don't I get a say in this?" Sparx seemed worried he might never see his foster brother again. "Well… I wouldn't mind you coming with me…" Spyro looked back at his parents. "No! I'm not losing more than one son." Spyro's mom was tearing up now. "I can except that you may not be comfortable with the lifestyle you have here, because you're a dragon, but… but not Sparx." Spyro looked back at Sparx. "Sorry." Spyro seemed legitimately sad. He looked back at his whole family as he walked away. "I love all of you, and I'll never forget you." Spyro's mom and dad embraced him, and he pulled his wings around them.

"I'll miss you!" "I'll miss you to, mom." Spyro turned around, and began walking away. Suddenly, Sparx flew into his way. "So that's it hu? Leaving Sparx behind at the old homestead? Not a care in the world."

"Come on Sparx, your be over dramatic. I would have let you come, but mom doesn't want to lose you, and I can understand that. Besides, I'm not leaving you behind, I'm just leaving you where you belong."

"Well I thought I belonged with you… cause I'm always with you… but I guess I was wrong… you know, you're right… you're right, I'm wrong." Sparx flew away, and Spyro's parents came back to talk to him again. "Don't worried about him Spyro. You know how he can be sometimes."

"I'll miss you." "We'll miss you to, son." Spyro smiled and started walking away again. Spyro left through the snake skull again, but once he was on the other side, Sparx showed up out of nowhere. "Sparx!? What are you doing here?" "Well… me and the old man were, chat'n, and we decided that… best friends should stick together. Even if one of them's purple and does have some weight issues." "Weight issues hu? Well, at least I've never been turned into a lantern before." Spyro gave a smirk. "Oh please, lantern shmantern! Let's see what's out there!" "Wait…" Spyro just realized something. "So mom doesn't know?"

"No… not exactly… dad said he'd talk to her." Spyro shrugged his shoulders. "O.K." He seemed satisfied… glad, even.

"So… where we headed?" Sparx asked Spyro. "I figured we could check out that building over there." Spyro gestured to a large dome like structure on top of a cliff that was only visible because it was high enough to be seen from above the treetops. "Why there?" "I don't now, it just… the only place I can see from here… also, that building probably has a very good view." "That's good enough for me, now let's go." Sparx started flying in the direction of the building, and Spyro followed close behind.

They didn't get too terribly far before coming to a small clearing. Spyro and Sparx were on top of a small cliff like structure overlooking the clearing, but they were only about five and a half feet above it. Spyro crouched down and observed the activity in the area. There were several pale green and grey tents as well as a couple of bonfires, one of which had a black pot of soup boiling over it. There were several barrels full of dynamite and TNT, as well as wooden racks with blades and other weapons on it. There were also several apes roaming around. Very close to where Spyro and Sparx were crouching, there were a few apes sitting around one of the bonfires.

"They say he can burst through solid rock, and create both eruptions and blizzards from his vicious jaws!" One of them apes had been talking to the rest about something. "I wonder what their talking about?" Spyro whispered to Sparx. "There's no way that's true! That's just some propaganda Cynder made up to make him seem like more of a threat." One of the other apes retorted. "That may be…" another ape began. "But either way, we still need to keep a look out. Even if he's not as big a threat as he's made out to be, he's still a threat. Otherwise we wouldn't need to worry about it."

"Relax! Were keep'n an eye out! There's no way that little demon'll get by us without me noticing."

"Hey Spyro." Sparx whispered. "Maybe we should go around." "Or…" Spyro smirked. "We could mess with'em." Sparx face palmed. "See those barrels?" Spyro gestured to the barrels of dynamite. "Those red sticks blow up when they're ignited, so I was thinking I could set them on fire and cause a chain reaction." "Two problems." Sparx began. "One, if you do that, you might blow us up as well. Two, you don't know how to breath fire." Spyro frowned.

Suddenly, a ball of fire shot out of the trees opposite of where Spyro was, and it was headed straight for a barrel of dynamite in the center of the camp sight. Seeing this, Spyro tuck and rolled behind a nearby tree, and several explosion sounds went off one right after the other, and sometimes even simultaneously. After that, there was a ringing in Spyro's ears that was very annoying. Spyro shook his head back and forth and smacked the sides of his head with his paws. Eventually, the ringing in his ears dimmed down to a slight buzzing sound.

"Did I just create a fireball with my mind!?" Spyro seemed a little too excited. "Guess again slick." Sparx pointed towards the clearing. The place was absolutely decimated. None of the apes remains could even be seen. There was charred everything. The cooking pot and some of the blades still retained their structure, but nothing else was even recognizable. It all just looked like charred wood, but Sparx was gesturing to a figure that had walked out into the open. It was a red dragon, much much bigger than Spyro. It's horns looked a lot like Spyro's but they were a very light brown, and pointed up rather than back. His underbelly and wing membrane were the same color as his horns. His crest looked like fire, not moving fire of course, but he also had quite a few red spikes on his chin, where the lower jaw meets the neck, and his shoulders. The base color of his body was an orange or bright red color, and his, neck, shoulders, back, and thighs, were covered in darker red spots. He had orange eyes and some weird star like formation on his wing where almost all of the joints came together.

"Come on out, young one. I know you're their. I won't hurt you." The red dragon's voice sounded like it hadn't been used in a while, but it was somehow comforting, despite it being hoarse and old. It was almost like you were talking to your grandfather. It was that kind of comfort. It took a few seconds before Spyro came out from behind the tree, but when he did, the red dragon spotted him. "Come on down." Spyro unfolded his wings, and glided down to the figure. Sparx followed close behind.


	3. A tail of woe

A tail of woe

Once Spyro had landed, the large red dragon noticed, for the first time, that Spyro was a purple dragon. Instantly, his eyes widened, and he embraced him. "Oh! Thank goodness you're alive!" Spyro was very uncomfortable with the situation, seeing as that he didn't know who this red dragon was. He pulled himself away and from the stranger and asked, "Do I know you?" Hearing this question, the red dragon realized he must have made Spyro feel very uncomfortable, and he straightened up. "You may not know who I am, but I know who you are." Spyro and Sparx looked at each other, confused. "When you were just an egg, it was my job to protect you. It was my job… to protect all of you…" the large dragon closed his eyes, lost in thought.

"There are others?"

"Others? There were." The red dragon was pulled back into real time. "There were four of us. Guardians, that is… and we had one job: Ensure that all the eggs were hatched. It was the year of the dragon, after all, and our very survival depended on those eggs… but the temple, and the grotto, are now gone… overrun by…" Spyro cut the dragon off. "Temple? You mean the one up there?" Spyro gestured to the building he and Sparx were originally going to go to, and the red dragon looked up at it. "Yes… yes that's the temple."

"Oh good! Cause me and Sparx were gonna go there anyway, so you can help us!" The red dragon shook his head. "No, no… who knows what forces occupy the temple now. What state it's in. You don't understand. After they came for you…"

"They? Who's they? And why did they come for me? I wasn't even born yet!"

"Because the prophecies spoke of a purple dragon, born only once every ten generations. You." "Wait…" Sparx interjected. "Does that mean him?" Sparx looked at Spyro. "Wait, this guy? Spyro's some special once in a purple thing?" Spyro whacked Sparx with his wing, and he smacked into a tree a foot or two away. "Shut up." Spyro said this with somewhat of a giggle. "Spyro is it?" The red dragon attracted their attention again. "Well, Spyro, I assure you that I'm telling you the truth. The dark armies attacked the grotto. Intent on destroying the eggs and killing the rest of us. They nearly succeeded… and then they lay siege to the other islands. We were at war!"

"For many years, we fought all over the islands. Brutal clashes with the armies of the dark master, who was intent on preventing the prophecies from coming true. The other three guardians and I, led our small, but valiant forces, into battle after battle against our ruthless, mercenary foe. Then, when we were beginning to turn the tide… Cynder, came." "Cynder?" Spyro was intrigued. "Yes, Cynder. Cynder was… is… a monstrous, horrific, ferocious, black dragon that fills the skies with terror. The terror of the skies."

"Uh yeah… you had me at ferocious." Sparx said this with a sigh. "Wait…" Spyro suddenly remembered something. "Not to long ago, I ran into some apes, and they said something about someone named Cynder." "Yes, she still searches for me… and years ago I watched as Cynder plucked the members of our army from the fields of battle, like so many ripe grapes from a vine. Without them, our cause is lost. Only I, Ignitus, managed to escape. Not that it matters. Cynder now rules all… and I sit here wondering, what might have been. What else I could have done."

"Oh goody! Sounds like fun!" Spyro's sarcasm flared up again. "Hey! Spyro, I think you should be a little more sensitive, O.K.? This guy's obviously gone through some stuff." "Sorry… but… why have you given up exactly? I just find out that I'm this special dragon, and you tell me all is lost? That I have no home or family left? I'm only twelve! This shouldn't be happening to me! I wanted to see what was out there, and that's just what I'm gonna do!"

"Hold up, savior boy, weren't you listening to this guy?" Sparx seemed worried. "He's talking about flying dragons, and war, and horrible… this is bad stuff, alright? I don't know if we're hearing the same thing…" "yes Spyro." Ignitus interjected. "It's not as simple as that. It's true, the prophecies spoke of a purple dragon destined to put his stamp upon this age, but the prophecies didn't foretell the devastation that surrounds us now." "I don't care!" Spyro seemed pumped now. "I'm not just gonna sit back and do nothing. Besides! Now that I'm here, there's no way Cynder could win this war! I'm too awesome!" "You're actually going along with this lunatic?" Sparx seemed annoyed, but Ignitus interjected before he could say anything else. "Very well then. We'll go. You deserve to see your beginning, before it all ends."

"That's the spirit! Now let's go!" Spyro was smiling now. "Am I the only one sane here?" Sparx asked, frustratedly. "He's telling us, we're doomed, alright? That's when I go, ah, maybe we should go back to the forest, with the flowers and the fun stuff." Ignoring Sparx, Spyro asked Ignitus, as he walked beside him, "what exactly did these, 'prophecies' say? You know… for, curiosity's sake." Ignitus looked down at the purple dragon as he walked forward. "The prophecies said, exactly, 'a purple dragon shall be born in the year of the dragon, and their optimism and confidence, shall lead them on a path to righteousness.'" "The confidence part sure does sound like Spyro." Sparx was apparently listening to. "Yes, I can already see that, but let's see if his optimism will stand the test of time."

Meanwhile, in a dark, desolate place, where hope goes to die, an ape was reporting to his master in the throne room of a giant castle crafted from black marble, with walls of weathered steel. Outside, thunder reigned down with a vengeance, and short of the passing flashes of lightning through vacant windows, the candlelit halls offered little respite from the darkness. "Your majesty, I come with important news." The ape spoke aloud. "Well, go on then." Came a voice from the darkness. The figure spoke in a hushed tone, that sounded both soothing and menacing, at the same time. She never sounded angry, even when livid, she maintained her cool tone. "A patrol of mine found a small dragon near the old temple. I believe the guardian, Ignitus, may have saved some of the eggs, and has been training the hatchlings for the past twelve years." The figure on the throne paused for a moment before speaking. "Did you capture it?"

"No, your majesty."

"Do you know where he is hiding them?"

"No, your majesty."

"Did you at least kill it?"

"No… Your majesty"

The figure showed no sign of distress, anger, or annoyance. She sat there, in silent contemplation for a moment. Then, she asked, "what color was this dragon?"

"Purple, your majesty."

"You do realize the prophecies foretold of a purple dragon, born twelve years ago, who would become our greatest enemy?" The ape pandered the figure's question for a moment. "Yes… now that you mention it, I do recall something like that."

"And why didn't you do absolutely everything in you power to kill, and or, capture it?"

"I had simply forgotten. It was twelve years ago, after all…"

"So you forgot, huh? Well I guess that makes everything better now, doesn't it?"

"I can assure you, I will not let something like this happen again."

"You're right…" the figure rose off of her gem studded black and white marble throne, swiftly moved across the checker patterned tile floor, and came to a halt behind the ape. She moved quickly and quietly, like a shadow among the darkness. The figure pulled the end of her tail, which bore a viciously sharp curved blade of steel, in front of the apes throat and whispered, "You won't let this happen again… because you won't be able to." She quickly slit the apes throat, and it choked on its own blood for a few seconds before falling to the ground beneath the figure. The figure didn't move a muscle, as the ape thrashed around on the ground, dieing slowly and painfully, clasping its throat with its hands.

Once the ape had stopped moving, the figure turned around to face the now petrified apes that had been lingering in the room the entire time. "Well? What are you waiting for? Go on. Leave… and tell the rest of the commanders that if they are to come across a purple dragon, that they are to kill, and or, capture it." The apes nodded, afraid for their lives, and they quickly exited the room.

Anyway… back to Spyro. He, Sparx, and Ignitus had reached the temple and were greeted by a large circular entrance door, with three white circular stones surrounding it. Ignitus came up to the door, and breathed some fire into the stones, and they glowed red, then the door opened. "Neat!" Spyro looked at the stones with a smile. "Yes, these doors can only be opened with fire, ice, earth, and or, electricity." Ignitus told the small dragon. "What?" Spyro was confused. "Oh, right! You don't know yet." Ignitus began walking into the temple, and Spyro and Sparx, followed as he explained further.

"You see, dragons don't just breath fire. There are also ice dragons, earth dragons, and electric dragons. There are technically more than that, but these are the elements you can master, being a purple dragon and all." "So…" Spyro was trying to make sense of things. "Because I'm a purple dragon, I can breath fire, ice, earth, and, electricity!?" "Yes, that is correct." "That's awesome!" Ignitus gave a smirk. "Now now, that may sound cool, but it's actually a big responsibility." "Pfft! Who cares? This just proves that I'm even cooler now than I was before!"

"Oh great! An ego boost." Sparx smiled as he said this, and so did Ignitus, but Ignitus also chuckled. They came up to another door, and Ignitus, once more, torched the stones around the door, and it slid open. They walked in, and once more, there were no threats to be seen. Spyro looked around in confusion. "Could you remind me why you were so terrified of coming back here? There's no one here." Ignitus looked down at Spyro. "You trust your eyes too much, young dragon. Listen." Spyro started paying more attention to the sounds drifting through the air, and heard some activity in a nearby room. "I'll handle it!" Spyro began strutting forward, but he was stopped mid strut, when Ignitus said, "No, Spyro. Let me show you what a dragon, trained in the ancient ways can do." Spyro sat down, and watched Ignitus with a curious expression.

Just then, Spyro heard something that caught his attention. "Hey, I think I heard something… it came from in there!" The apes had figured out they were in the temple, then, they opened a door to Spyro's left, somehow , and were met with Ignitus, standing tall and proud. "Well well well! It's been a while hasn't it… Ignitus." The large ape in the middle of the group was smiling as it said this, but it just looked disturbing. "There's no escaping this time!" "I wouldn't count on it." The apes smile widened at ignitus's threat of a challenge. "Attack!" The smaller apes surrounding the larger ape, leaped forward. Ignitus put his wings together, and when the apes got close enough, he separated them, knocking all of the apes to his left, and right. Then, Ignitus turned to his left, and grabbed one of the apes in his mouth, and tossed it into the larger ape still standing in the doorway.

"Whoa! The big guys got some moves!" Sparx seemed really impressed, and so did Spyro. Ignitus returned his attention to the apes at his right that had gotten back up. He struck them with his right paw, then quickly switched to his left. Then, he spun around in a 360, and knocked them all back with his tail. Noticing the apes now behind him, Ignitus did a backflip and landed behind them. Catching the apes off guard, Ignitus did another spin move, but this time, a ring of fire was created around him, and the apes were both knocked back, and scorched. Ignitus was then hit in the side of the head with a large club, however Ignitus was quick to recover.

He performed another spin move, however, even though he successfully knocked his opponent away, he tripped over his own feet, and landed on his side. Thankfully, Ignitus was able to get back up, before any of the enemies were able to take advantage of this brief moment of vulnerability. Once Ignitus had gotten back up, the large ape that had hit him with the club, charged forward. Ignitus launched his head forward, and knocked his enemy into the air with his horns, then, Ignitus jumped up, and spun another 360, using his tail to pitch the ape through the air like a baseball. Ignitus landed back on his feet, and shot a fireball at the remaining group of apes. Once they had all collected themselves, they ran away, out the front door.

"This isn't the end, Ignitus! We'll be back!" "I highly doubt that." After saying this, Ignitus breathed a torrent of fire, encouraging them to leave faster. "That was AWESOME! Can you teach me how to do that!?" Spyro ran up to Ignitus as he said this, but he skidded to a halt, when he saw that Ignitus looked exhausted. "Hey… you O.K.?" "Yes… yes, I'm fine, thank you. As I get older, it takes longer to recover." Ignitus stood up again and started walking towards the door opposite the front door. He opened the door with his fire, and a circular room was revealed. The walls of the room had four symbols on them. Presumably, these were the symbols for all four of the elements. In the center of the room, there was a small, circular green pool. Spyro stopped to look at it, but, seeing Ignitus pass it by, Spyro quickly moved on. Ignitus reached the other side of the room, and opened, yet another door. Another circular room was revealed, but it was much bigger. Too bad there was a giant dragon statue taking up most of that space in the middle.

"Who's that?" Ignitus looked up at the statue for a moment before answering Spyro's question. "Not sure…" Ignitus turned to the left and began moving around the statute. Ignitus seemed disinterested with the statue, so Spyro just moved on. They reached another door, and Spyro said, "how many doors are there?" Without answering, Ignitus opened the door to reveal, a balcony at the end of an arcing pathway. They all walked down to the balcony, and Spyro saw, for the first time, the rest of the swamp. For the first time in Spyro's life, he felt what true sorrow is like, as he gazed across the fields of burnt, charred land, that served as battlegrounds for so many years. Everywhere you looked, there were large black steel factories that were emitting a large amount of grey smoke which collected into the sky, making it impossible to see the sun.

"What happened here?" "This is what Cynder has done. Put all the other islands under her iron rule." "I wanted to see where I came from,… but I didn't know it was going to be like this!" "Yeah, no offense, but this place is a bit of a dump." Sparx interjected. Ignitus looked down at Spyro. "This was once our home, Spyro… and now… it is gone. Stolen from us by the most evil entity imaginable." Spyro's expression suddenly became serious. "Well then, let's take it back!"

"What?"

"You heard me! We're gonna reclaim, what's rightfully ours!" Ignitus paused for a moment. "You know what? You're right!" Ignitus looked down at Spyro again with a smile. "You've given me hope again. Now it's time to give hope to all of them."

"Yeah! Now we're talkin!"

"Wait, what!?" Sparx seemed frightened. "You're willing to dive headfirst into a war!?" Spyro smiled. "Come on. I thought by now you would have expected something like this from me." "Good point…" "Spyro!" Ignitus grabbed their attention again. "Come with me… I have something for you that just might help you get started."

Going back to Cynder real quick, another ape had appeared before her. "Your majesty, I have great news! We've found where that blasted fire guardian, Ignitus, has been hiding. He foolishly returned to the temple, so we should send an armada right away!" Cynder remained still on her throne for a moment as she pandered. "So you didn't capture him?" "Uh… no… your majesty, but…" Cynder cut him off. "Do you really think, that the guardian of fire, who has eluded us for twelve years, would be dumb enough to stay in the temple after he was caught by a couple of apes, that are only useful as messengers, it seems?" The ape paused for a moment, not noticing that Cynder had just insulted him. "But your majesty!" "But nothing." Despite not even coming close to yelling, her voice still cut through the air with a coldness which could only be matched by the arctic.

It was quiet for a moment, as Cynder thought of something. "Was Ignitus alone?" The ape thought for a moment. "No, he was accompanied by a small dragon. Probably only twelve years old, not much of a threat…" Cynder cut him off before he could finish his thought. "What color was this, twelve year old?" The ape looked confused. "Um… purple… I think… why is that…" Cynder cut him off again. "So you're telling me, that the guardian of fire, and the purple dragon, of whom the prophecies foretold to be our greatest enemy, have found each other, and are staying in the dragon temple?" The ape realized his mistake to late. "Not only that, but you think the purple dragon is no threat, simply because he is young?" "I… I didn't mean…" the ape stopped mid sentence, as Cynder slithered her way towards him. She moved quickly a quietly, like always, and she stood straight up looking down upon the ape, making him feel small and insignificant. Cynder spoke even quieter than before. Almost a whisper. "How old do you think I am?"

Cynder wasn't as old as she looked. Many years ago, as a hatchling, she had been cursed by Gaul the ape king. The dark masters most trusted minion… until Cynder came along. When she hatched, the dark master had Gaul put a curse upon her that made her body age up, and her mind was corrupted. Her whole life, she has been a killing machine, used to help further the war. All she knows, is terror, and murder. She knows no other way.

"Well? I'm waiting."

"Y-you're only t-twelve."

"That's right… and I'm not threatening to you?"

"N-no! Y-you t-t-terrifying!"

"Good… you should be scared." Suddenly Cynder's tail blade struck through the apes back, and she pulled it back out, letting the ape fall to her paws. Cynder turned around and swiftly moved back to her throne. There were a few more apes in the room who had witnessed the murder, but Cynder didn't care. "I will put together a search party, but I doubt they'll still be there." The apes nodded and left the room.


	4. The first tutorial

The first tutorial

"The style you use is crude, archaic, and obvious, but you got the job done." Ignitus said as he addressed Spyro. They were now standing in the room with the statue again. "Not bad, considering you haven't been taught anything about what it means to be a dragon." Spyro smiled. "Thanks… I think…?" Spyro's smile was replaced with confusion. "But if you're going to have a chance against Cynder and her army, you're going to need to learn a lot more." "Oh goody… school." Sparx sighed. "Unlike any school you've ever known, young friend." Ignitus grabbed their attention again. "Now… it's time to unleash the true dragon within you." Ignitus turned around, and he placed his paw on an octagonal tile on the wall that was outlined with a glowing yellow light. He pushed down, and it slid into the wall, creating a grating sound like stone against stone.

Ignitus turned back to Spyro. "Each of the guardians is master of an element." As Ignitus said this, the statute in the middle of the room, slowly began to sink into the ground. "I, as you may have surmised, am master of fire. Pay attention, and you may be someday too. Let's begin." By now, the statue had finished sinking into the ground, and a stone platform covered the void it had left behind. "Cool! So your gonna teach me how to use my fire, right?" Spyro looked excited when he said this. "No. You must first learn the basics of combat."

"but I can already fight with my claws!"

"please Spyro, just pay attention."

spyro looked away from Ignitus with a scowl on his face. "how about this… if you sit through, and listen to, my lectures on basic combat, I'll teach you some fire moves, O.K.?" spyro continued scowling, but he plopped his butt down on the ground and listened. Ignitus gave a sigh of relief. "Thank you! Now, the first move I'll teach you, is the, quick claw double strike." Spyro seemed intrigued now. "I'll show you the move, then I'll tell you how to do it." Spyro nodded.

Ignitus pulled his right paw back, and swung it in front of him, then he swung his left paw in front. Spyro recognized this move from when Ignitus attacked the intruding apes. "now, what you want to do is, swing your right paw back, and swing your hip along with it. You want to keep your back legs stationary, and your shoulders loose. Then, you swing your paw up at an angle, then quickly switch to the other paw and do the same thing." Spyro followed the instructions, and while he didn't do it inherently fast, he still did the move with little to no problems. "good, now try doing it faster this time." this time, Spyro performed the move without any problems, and, he did it wicked fast. "ah! Fast learner I see. That's good." Spyro seemed pleased with himself. "now, can you tell me what move that was called?" Spyro suddenly became anxious. "uh… was it… quick claw… strike?"

"close… that was the, quick claw double strike."

"oh…" Spyro felt dumb.

"it's O.k., most kids that try that move, don't even get that close to naming it!" Spyro smiled again.

"now, the next move I'm going to show you, is the, power claw strike." Ignitus pulled his right arm back, his elbow bent, and moved his left shoulder forward. Then, he quickly extended his arm up, and brought it down with force. "instead of being quick, like the last one, this attack is used for its power. It is a little slower than the other attack, so it's easier to dodge, and it should only be used against one or two stronger enemies, as opposed to the quick claw double strike, which could be used with any number of enemies. Oh! And the power claw strike also temporarily knocks off your center balance, so you should work on your recovery time." Spyro waited for a moment to see if Ignitus was done speaking, and he tried to perform the move, but he tripped over his own paws and landed on the ground with a small thud.

"are you O.K. Spyro?" Ignitus seemed concerned. "I'm fine" Spyro answered, annoyed. Before Spyro could try the move again, Ignitus said, "calm yourself. The move will only be harder if you are frustrated. Take a minute, and breath." Spyro stood there, relaxed his muscles, and his expression softened. "now… try again." Ignitus was very supportive, and Spyro appreciated that. This time, when Spyro performed the move, he did it almost perfectly. Spyro tripped forward slightly after the move, but he caught himself before he hit the ground. "Much better! Would you like to try it again?" Spyro performed the move again, and he did it flawlessly this time.

"Perfect! Now, for the third move." Spyro's attention came back to Ignitus. "This one is called, tailspin." Ignitus moved into the center of the room, and he spun in a 360, flicking his tail out. Ignitus stepped back, and gestured for Spyro to enter the center. "With this move, you want to crouch down, and move the front part of your body to the right, and keep your paws stationary. Then, use your paws to throw yourself to the left, while using your wings to make it more clean. Make sure you move your tail along with your body, and use your back paws as pivot points. Spyro tried the move, and he tripped. He tried it two more times, and the same thing happened both times.

"Maybe I should have started you off with an easier move… how about charging?" Spyro groaned loudly. "Please, just follow my lead?"

"Fine…"

Ignitus crouch down to the ground, and pointed his horns forward. Then, he kicked back his hind legs, and charged forward. He then used his hind legs to skin to a halt, and he flicked his horns up quickly, and powerfully. Spyro performed the move before Ignitus could tell him anything else about it, and he did it perfectly, first try. Looking satisfied with himself, Spyro proceeded to try the tailspin again. This time, he took a deep breath, and imagined himself doing the move perfectly in his mind, then, he made sure his body was in the right position, and… he performed it perfectly.

"Well done, young dragon! I will say, you do not give up easily, and that's encouraging." Spyro smiled. "So! Can you teach me some fire moves now!?" Spyro was very excited, and his smile was so big and adorable, Ignitus couldn't bring himself to disappoint the little guy. "Very well…" Spyro jumped up in the air. "Yes!" Ignitus rolled his eyes with a smirk.

"O.K., now I'm going to teach you a move called, flamethrower. Now, close your eyes…" Spyro did as he was told. "Now, breath in, and then breath out. Feel the heat in the air, feel the power of the sun, and imagine standing on scorched stone, basking in the heat of magma, and feel embers falling onto your body,… and accept it. Become one with the fire." Spyro stood still for a moment, breathing nice and evenly. As he concentrated, smoke began to emerge from his nostrils when he exhaled. "Now,… take a deep breath, and release the fire within you." Spyro took a very deep breath in through the mouth, and when he opened his jaws again, a great blaze of orange and red fire, blasted out of his jaws. Spyro was able to keep this current going for a good ten seconds, before stopping and gasping for air.

"That… was… AWESOME!" Spyro seemed really excited, until he remembered the first time he had ever used fire. "Wait… I was able to use fire before… without having to do any of that…" Ignitus sighed. "Fire can be used if your anger becomes… unmanageable… but relying on anger to fuel your fire, is a very unwise decision."

"Oh… why?"

"Because… controlling the element of fire, is a big responsibility. Fire is dangerous. It is not like the other elements. Fire is alive, it breathes… and spreads, enveloping everything in its path, whether you wish it to, or not."

"So… are you gonna teach me how to make fireballs?" Ignitus looked surprised. "Was that the first thing you ever did with fire?"

"Yep!"

Ignitus seemed regretful. "No… if I taught you how to shoot fireballs… you're too ambitious, and impulsive… fireballs can create small explosions, and I fear you may not be able to wheeled this power responsibly. In fact… I fear I may have taught you to much already."

"Ah, come on! I'm not dumb, and besides… if you don't teach me how to shoot fireballs, I'm just gonna try to figure it out on my own… and I don't think you want that." Spyro smiled deviously, and Ignitus sighed heavily. "Very well." Spyro didn't jump for joy this time, but he was definitely satisfied with himself.

"But before I teach you that move, I must first show you something important." Spyro looked curios. Ignitus turned back to the wall with the octagonal button used to bring down the statue, and he pressed a different button below it. This button had a blue glowing ring around it. When he pressed it into the wall, several small circular platforms appeared around the outer ring of the training area. On these platforms, there were gems that came in three different colors. Red, green, and blue.

"What are those?"

"These are spirit gems." Ignitus moved over to the closest gem, it was green. "A gift from the ancestors. A gift that speaks across generations. A gift that empowers you with the spirit of the past. Strengthening you with the wisdom of the ages." Spyro looked at Ignitus confused. "And… what's that supposed to mean?"

"It means they can strengthen you. Physically, spiritually, and mentally."

"Oh… I still don't get it." Ignitus sighed. "Dragons have magic. They are magical, yes?"

"Yeah"

"magic is a part of our elemental abilities, and it can run out."

"What!" Spyro was surprised. "Now now. Our elemental abilities do come back if we wait, but green spirit gems can speed up the process of 'elemental regeneration' by a considerable amount."

"Elemental regeneration?" Spyro asked. "Yes, that is the technical term for it. It refers to the amount of time it takes for your elemental abilities to come back after you use them."

"O.K…" Spyro was beginning to understand it. "So, how long does 'elemental regeneration' take?"

"It really depends."

"Depends on what?"

"It depends on how much you use your element, how much you've practiced, and how much spirit energy you have." Spyro looked at Ignitus like he had just made a bad joke. "Oh, sorry. Spirit energy is bestowed upon a dragon by blue spirit gems. It increases all of your abilities, physically, spiritually…"

"and mentally." Spyro smiled as he finished Ignitus's sentence.

"But how long does elemental regeneration take, on average?" Spyro wanted to get a rough estimate. "Normally, it only takes about, five to ten seconds, but if you use up all of your elemental magic at once, it will take about, fifteen to twenty five seconds."

"Oh! That's not long at all!" Spyro seemed very confident. "Now Spyro, you must know that in the heat of battle, waiting for your elemental powers to regenerate, can feel like an eternity. It also physically exerts your body, and puts a strain on you. That's why you should make sure you mix your elemental attacks with non elemental attacks."

"Using your elemental attacks can overwork your body if you are not careful." "How so?" Spyro asked. "If you use your elemental abilities too much, your body will be overworked. When your body is overworked, your body will prevent you from using your elemental abilities as a way to recover. The more overworked your body is, the longer your elemental regeneration will take. If you are too overworked, elemental regeneration can take anywhere from one to five whole minutes."

"What!" Spyro was starting to see the downfalls of these powers. "But as long as you keep a steady 'exertion ratio', you should be fine."

"Well then, what's a good 'exertion ratio', whatever that is."

"Exertion ratio, is the technical term for how much you use your elements, vs, how much you use your physical abilities. A good exertion ratio is two elemental attacks, for every seven physical attacks."

"Two to seven!? Man, physical attacks are more important than I thought." Spyro thought for a moment. "If your in battle, and your elemental regeneration takes a few minutes, how much will green spirit gems speed it up by?"

"Green spirit gems don't actually speed up the process of elemental regeneration, but rather, they give you something to use as, fuel, for your elemental attacks, as a pose to your physical capabilities. While you are using this alternate form of elemental fuel, your elemental powers will be strengthened, and it gives your body time to carry on the process of elemental regeneration."

"But you must be careful that you do not mistake green spirit gems for anti-mag gems. Anti-mag is short for anti magic. Anti-mag gems can cause a temporary stall in your elemental powers. This reaction between anti-mag gems and elemental powers is called, elemental suspension."

"Anti-mag gems?" Spyro looked confused again. "Don't worry. Anti-mag gems are much more uncommon than green spirit gems. They are also a much darker shade and can only really be found underground." Spyro nodded, despite not really understanding what Ignitus had just said.

Ignitus realized that he'd probably said way too much in such little time, so he tried to simplify it. "O.K., All you really need to know right know is that, green spirit gems will bring back your elemental abilities, as well as strengthen them. Red spirit gems are attracted to wounds and will heal you, and blue spirit gems increase something called 'spirit energy'."

"O.K."

"So, you should know how to absorb the energy from these gems."

"K."

"To do this, all you need to do is break them."

"What! Realy?"

"Go on. Give that crystal a whack."

Ignitus stepped back a little, Spyro swung his horns into the crystal, and it shattered with surprising ease. The tiny shards of the crystal then went up into the air and started floating around Spyro's body. This only lasted about two or three seconds before all of the crystals were absorbed into his body, and once it was done, Spyro felt more power than he'd ever felt in his life, which wasn't actually saying much.

"Whoa… I feel great!"

"Yes, and now for the fireball attack."

"Oh, yeah."

"Assume your previous position, and feel the fire." Spyro closed his eyes and within seconds, there was smoke emerging from his nostrils again. "Now, instead of letting it all out gradually, hold it in till you can't anymore, then forcefully launch the fire within you out all at once."

A few seconds went by before Spyro suddenly opened his jaws and a ball of fire shot out and slammed into the door on the opposite side of the room. Interesting enough, the fireball didn't damage the wooden door. Ignitus looked behind him at the balcony door for a moment before saying,"that's enough training for now. Follow me." Ignitus pressed down the two buttons on the wall and the statue rose and the crystals went back down. He then proceeded to walk back into the other room with the green pool, and Spyro followed.

Once they got their, Ignitus gazed into the pool, as if he were looking for something. "So what's with the pool big guy?" Sparx asked, breaking the awkward silence. Ignitus rolled his eyes. "If you must know, some dragons have the ability to see visions. The thoughts, memories, and dreams of others… and to see what's happening in places far, far away. I am one such dragon, and in this pool the visions come forth."

"Oh really, is that so? O.K. What am I thinking now?" Awkward silence. "What am I thinking now?" More awkward silence followed by Ignitus rolling his eyes. "O.K., now? Now? Now, now, now, now, now?" Ignitus sighed.

"I'm afraid it's not that easy, Sparx. It takes time, reflection, patience." Sparx shrugged his shoulders. "What I do see in the pool of visions is that Volteer, one of the Guardians, is being held on Dante's Freezer." Spyro smirked. "Nice parody."

"Spyro, I want you to come with me to Dante's Freezer…"

"And help you save Volteer?"

"Ah… yes… yes…"

"This is gonna be so, AWESOME!"

"But wait, I haven't even told how we're getting there."

Spyro looked curiously at Ignitus. "We have wings, do we not?" Spyro unfolded his wings to look at them. "Uh, yeah…"

"so… what do you think there for?"

"Wait, are you saying I can… fly?"

"Whoa whoa whoa!" Sparx exclaimed. "Maybe you've been hang'n in those caves a little too long, old man. Spyro can't fly. We all know that."

"Yes, well…" Ignitus began again. "Technically, Spyro can't fly… yet."

"Wait, what?"

"You're too young to fly. Your wings have not fully developed. You couldn't possibly sustain your own weight in the air."

"Oh! So I suppose _you_ can fly?" Spyro seemed irritated.

"Actually… yes, I can, and I'm going to fly you to Dante's Freezer, myself."

"Oh great… a piggy back ride… isssss meh fave-ret."

"Come on… I need you to follow me to the balcony so we can get going."

"Uuugh, fine."

Once they were outside, Ignitus closed his eyes and stood still for a moment. "What, do you have to meditate before you can fly?" Spyro asked mockingly.

"What? No… I was just enjoying some fresh air."

"Oh."

Ignitus sat down for a moment and said, "well… hop on." Spyro climbed atop Ignitus's back and held on. Then, Ignitus stood up and unfurled his wings. "I haven't flown in a real long time, so I might be a little rusty." Ignitus beat his wings, and dust fell out from the folds as he steadily increased speed, and then, he launched off of the balcony.

Ignitus fell for a good 20 to 30 seconds before suddenly arching forward and skating right past the tips of viciously sharp stone stalagmites. "Whoa!"

"Are you O.K.?"

"yeah! I'm great! This… this is AWESOME!" ignitus snickered.

"Ah, yes. I remember the first time I got to fly… the cool fresh breeze, the wind flowing through my wings… sometimes I forget to just, take it all in.

A short while after that, Cynder had arrived at the temple with her patrol. It was clear that even if Cynder did not believe Ignitus would have stayed in the temple, she wasn't taking any chances. She had arrived with 25 to 30 apes riding dreadwings, and 20 apes on foot. In addition, she had 20 to 25 dragons with her, but they looked like lifeless drones, completely dead inside, and were stone faced. Their will had succumbed to Cynder's savagery long ago. They were all wearing a black and white marble stone necklace with a blue gem and a sickly green gem embedded in them. Moreover, they were clad in weathered black and silver steel armor, veiled in spikes.

Now that she was in broad daylight, Cynder was everso slightly easier to see, and yet, she remained cloaked in inky darkness. Wherever she went, a cloud of black smog would collect around her, as if the very forces of nature wished to shield her dominating presence from its vision. Cynder was watching the sky from the temple balcony, when a large ape appeared behind her without a sound. "What is it?" Cynder asked despite not checking to see who was there. "We've searched this temple high and low, but we haven't found any sign of Ignitus, or the purple dragon."

Cynder remained silent for a moment as she speculated. "Do you know how strong a dragon's sense of smell is?"

"what?" The ape was clearly caught off guard by the question.

"I said… do you know how strong a dragon's sense of smell is?"

"Well, uh… no, not really… Why?"

"I recognize Ignitus's scent. And I can smell a young one too. They were here."

"Well, their not here know."

"Perhaps… but I know we're their heading. They think they can save Volteer. Their going to Dante's Freezer."

"I beg your pardon, but… how do you know, for sure, that their going to Dante's Freezer?"

"The scent of Ignitus is strongest near the pool of visions, and around the training area. This means he was able to locate Volteer using the pool, and he undoubtedly taught the purple dragon how to use his fire breath."

"Well… how do you know Volteer is the one they're after?"

"Their scent trail is heading in the direction of Dante's Freezer."

"So… do you want us to send troops after them?"

"No. You do remember why I kept Volteer at Dante's Freezer, don't you?"

"To keep him in a place that doesn't align with his element in an effort to make him weaker?"

"Yes, that is one reason… but I was referring to the curse."

"Oh, you mean the undead human army?"

"Yes. And that is why I don't want you to send troops. Why sacrifice my army, when I can just let the undead take care of them for me? But just in case they do find Volteer… I'll go ahead and set up a little… get together… for them and Dante."

"You mean your gonna set a trap?"

"Yes, you nitwit, a trap."


	5. Lies

Lies

"Can you slow down?" Sparx was having an extremely difficult time keeping up with Ignitus. "I've already told you, I'm going a slow as I can without falling into the ocean."

"I can carry you if you want." Spyro asked. "No! Absolutely not!" Surprisingly, this was not Sparx protesting, but rather it was Ignitus. "If you were to hold onto Sparx, you wouldn't be holding onto my back, and you might fall into the crashing waves below." Spyro looked at Sparx, and Sparx shrugged.

"So… how far are we now?" Ignitus sighed. Spyro had clearly asked this question often on their trip. "Were actually not too far. In fact, I can see some icy pillars just up ahead." And low and behold, ignitus flew right passed one of them, and their numbers were increasing steadily. Pretty soon, they were flying through a chasm of ice, and a white fog began to form, making it increasingly difficult to see.

"So, uh… why's it called Dante's Freezer?" Spyro asked. Ignitus began the story without hesitation. "Well, It's original name was Dante's Fortress, but after all of its residents died, it was nicknamed Dante's Freezer. This was because while the king, Dante, may have been a warrior at heart, he did study some sorcery. And in a great war, the king's last battle, he accidentally set a curse over his land. A curse that brought the dead back to life. With his final breath, he swore that even after death, he and his subjects would continue to defend their land, and he was right. To this day anyone who enters Dante's Freezer will be attacked by Dante's undead army of knights. And that's why it's called Dante's Freezer. Because it is the place we're Dante's soul is cursed to remain, forever encased in an icy blizzard that is as cold as his heart. Dante's very own, personal purgatory."

"So, there are zombies? That's AWESOME!"

"Quick question…" Sparx interjected. "Why are we heading towards the danger again?"

"Oh come on Sparx. Stop being such a wimp."

"Actually, Sparx does have somewhat of a point. Dante's Freezer is a dangerous place, so we must be careful, and stick together."

"Yeah, but we're going their for a reason. We have to save someone."

"Yeah… right… look Spyro, I need to tell you something."

"What is it?"

"Well… it's just… I…"

Before Ignitus could finish his thought, a large obstacle appeared right out of the fog in front of him. He swerved violently to the side trying to avoid it, but his back legs slammed into it, producing a loud ringing sound, like metal. When he and Spyro looked back, they noticed that it was a large catapult, crafted from iron and painted red and black. It had been hanging dangerously close to the side of the chasm, but after ignitus had slammed into it, it was now slowly sliding down the side. And it didn't help much that it was resting on top of snow and ice. At this point Ignitus was staying airborne in one spot so he could watch it. It stopped right before it would have fallen off the edge, and Ignitus gave a sigh of relief.

"Why would that thing falling be a bad thing?"

"Well Spyro, if it had fallen, it most likely would have hit the ground with enough force to cause an avalanche."

"What's an avalanche?"

"An avalanche is when…"

Ignitus was cut off mid sentence by the sound of cracking ice. It continued for a good couple of seconds before stopping… Ignitus sighed. "Oh no." And that's when the ground beneath the catapult gave way, and it was sent plummeting down to meet the earth below. A few seconds went by as the catapult fell in silence… and then it happened. The catapult hit the ground and produced a really high pitched sound of metal clanking agents ice that was so loud it caused an echo that went on for ten whole seconds.

"We need to get out of here." After saying this, Ignitus started flying forward again. Just then, a loud rumbling sound emerged from every direction, accompanied by the sound of ice shattering. As Ignitus flew forward, columns of ice began to fall over. They were so tall that they would hit the other side of the chasm and get stuck, creating a bridge between both sides of the gorge.

"Hold on! It's gonna be a bumpy ride!"

As Ignitus flew forward, and the icy walls crumbled around them, Spyro began to see some things he hadn't noticed before. Their was actually a large number of platforms that had the same kind of catapults resting on them, but a lot of them were frozen within the wall or the platform itself, but still, some were usable. There were also very wide bridges, constructed of chains and metal planks, that were connecting the platforms together.

Suddenly, interrupting Spyro's train of thought, a stalactite fell from above and Ignitus did a barrel roll to avoid it. After which, he could feel Spyro's claws digging into his shoulder blades. Despite the discomfort, Ignitus didn't actually mind it, so long as Spyro was as safe as he could be.

The falling stalactite had confused Spyro, and when he looked up, he was surprised to find that they were no longer in a chasm, but rather, they were in a tunnel. Granted, it was a very narrow and tall tunnel, but it was still a tunnel nonetheless. Spyro was suddenly jerked to the side and realized Ignitus had just barely avoided a falling chunk of ice, but unfortunately, this sudden change in direction made it impossible to avoid the wall of the cavern, and ignitus slammed his side into the wall. The shear force of the impact caused Spyro to fly off Ignitus's back, and he plunged into the depths.

"Spyro!" Ignitus instantly dived down to catch him. Spyro frantically flapped his wings, trying to save himself, but it wasn't going to work. His wings were too small and he was going way too fast.

Right as Spyro was about to hit the icy water below, Ignitus swooped down and grabbed him with his back paws. "Nice save doctor I.!"

"What? But I'm not a doctor."

"Well it's… ya see I… oh, never mind."

This brief interaction brought Ignitus's attention away from his flying, so he was caught off guard by the giant ice pillar falling right in front of him.

"Pull up! Pull up!"

"It's kinda hard to with you shouting in my ear!"

"Oh, sorry."

Rather than take Spyro's advise, Ignitus dove down as close to the freezing water as possible, and tried to go under the ice. Tiny shards of ice fell on top of Spyro and Ignitus as the pillar came screaming towards them, and as it fell into the water, a giant wave push them forward and they just barely escaped the heavy weight of the collapsing ice. And by bairly I of course mean that Ignitus was crushed into the freezing water, but had the foresight to through Spyro up and through the air.

Thankfully, Spyro landed on an old ship, instead of falling into the freezing depths below. The ship he had landed on was made of wood, but somehow was still functional after centuries of being frozen in ice, due to the fact that it was speeding through the know flowing current of water.

The ship's rig consisted of the center mast, the red lanteen with a triangular red sail attached to it, the halliard for raising the lanteen, the parrel which was placed on the left mast side; a sequence of thin short ropes on the sail for shortening it, the tacking rig used for insuring the front lateen end, and the sheet for keeping in place the back sail end. (Authors note: a lanteen is a triangular sail set on a long yard mounted at an angle on the mast, and running in a fore-and-aft direction.)

The hull of the boat had been painted black, but there were an outrageous amount of scratches and peelings in the paint. It had spiked metal bulwarks and a bowsprit painted gold, but they too, had been stripped of much of their paint, as well as being covered in rust. The sails were mostly intact, aside from having a single rip at the very top of the sail, but it was only half a foot long, so it probably wouldn't hinder the efficiency of the ship to terribly much.

"Ah, come on! If I was gonna land on a ship, couldn't it have at least been a ship with a steering wheel?" Spyro turned around when he heard splashing in the water behind him as Ignitus pulled himself up and over the side of the boat. "Oh good, you're still kick'n!… but wait, where's Sparx?"

"No time for that know! I must bring you back into the air!" But as Ignitus tried to stand, an incomprehensible sense of frigidness overwhelmed his entire body, forcing him back to the ground. He nearly fell unconscious, but Spyro slapped him in the face with his tail. "Your not pass'n out till you've taught me how to steer this thing!"

With painfully slow and erratic jittering movement, Ignitus lifted his head to look up at the large sail.

"Hmm… Ah, yes… It appears to be a bracera." (Authors note: bracera is pronounced, bratsera)

"Specifically, it's a single mast bracera with a lateen sail."

"Great! Cool! But how do I pilot it? Were not exactly in calm…"

Spyro was interrupted by a sudden jerking motion of the boat as a chunk of ice slammed into the right side of the hull, generating an awful grating sound, and it stripped away a large patch of paint.

"… waters."

"Oh, yes… let me just…"

Ignitus used all of the strength in his body to drag himself to the front of the boat so he could act as a lookout.

"Huh, okay… let's see…"

There was another sudden jerking motion as chunk of ice slammed into the left side, generating the awful sound again, and stripping away more paint.

"Any day now!"

"Um… ah…"

"Oh, let me guess, the writer couldn't figure out how to sail one of these things, so he's just gonna leave it up to me, right?"

"Uuuh…"

"I'll just pull random ropes till something works."

"Okay… turn right!"

Spyro took a quick look at the ropes and grabbed one randomly in his mouth, then he tugged. The boat turned sharply, but unfortunately, it turned left. The front bow slammed into a small iceberg, but somehow, the boat was still afloat. Once it had smashed into the ice, it spun around on a pivot point, making the boat travel down the current backwards.

"That can't be good."

"We need to turn the boat around again!"

"Wait a sec, you can't fly because your cold, right?"

"Yes…"

"So just set the boat on fire so you can warm up!"

Their discussion was interrupted by another jolt of the boat as it slammed into another iceberg.

"I can't breath fire if I'm in a cold place and am not generating enough body heat, so just help bring the boat back to its preferred position!"

"O.K."

"Pull that rope again, but this time pull it much faster and with more force!"

Spyro grabbed the rope again and pulled the rope so quickly that he almost fell over, but he was able to stay upright. The boat turned left incredibly fast… too fast. The left side of the bow slammed into a sheet of ice, and the the boat stopped turning so abruptly, that Spyro was knock off balance and the rope fell from his jaws. Thankfully, the boat was know facing the correct direction, but unlike the times before, a small leek was created on the left side of the boat, however neither Ignitus nor Spyro noticed it, seeing as that it was so small.

"Great! Now turn right!"

Spyro looked for another rope and pulled the first one he saw. Thankfully, the boat actually turned right.

"Now go straight."

Spyro pulled the other rope again but this time he did it lightly, so the boat would return to its original position. Dragons may have dew claws instead of thumbs, but their dew claws are conveniently close enough to their paw that they can use them like thumbs. They may not be as dexterous, but Spyro was still able to grasp both ropes efficiently with his paws.

"Okay… now gently turn left… then make a sharp right."

Spyro pull the rope in his right paw over to his left side, and the boat slowly turned left.

"Turn right… now!"

Spyro instantly yanked the rope in his left paw over to his right, and the boat made a sharp right turn.

"Hey! I think I'm gett'n the hang of this!"

"Go straight again."

Once again, Spyro gently pulled the rope in his right paw over to his left, and the boat aubade.

"Okay, this might be a problem… see if you can go faster!"

Spyro took a few seconds to look over at what Ignitus was worried about, and he saw two sheets of ice that were about to collide right in their path. Instantly, Spyro tried looking for another rope to pull, and grabbed the only other one he could see. He yanked on it, but it wouldn't budge. Tracing the line of rope with his eyes, he noticed a pulley system attached to it that was rusted beyond belief. He continued tugging, and the rust started falling off like dust. His final tug was so strong that the pulley completely fell apart and the rope snapped.

"Oh no…"

The boat had know drifted right in between the two sheets of ice as they came together. Ignitus stood up with shaking legs and said "Spyro, come here."

"Oh , you can stand know?"

"Bairly."

Once spyro was next to Ignitus, Ignitus picked him up in his jaws and leaped off of the boat as the sheets of ice smashed into its sides, crushing it into splinters. He extended his wings to take flight, but they were still incredibly cold, so he only launched forward and landed on another sheet of ice that was speeding down the river. Spyro had fallen from Ignitus's grasp and slid across platform, coming to a halt with his head dangling dangerously off the side of the platform. Ignitus grabbed Spyro's tail and pulled him back to safety.

"That was a close one!"

Right as Spyro said this, they jolted to a sudden halt. Spyro looked up and saw that the sheet of ice he and Ignitus were resting on had slammed into the side of a set of docks. The docks were a little higher than he would have expected, until he realized that if he were on a boat, the docks would have been a few inches below him. "Land Ho!" Spyro shouted. Without a verbal response, Ignitus grabbed Spyro in his mouth and climbed up onto the docks. They were made of a very dark brown wood, and were covered in ice. Their were metal things jutting out of the snow and ice, wich Spyro assumed had been torches to help keep the docks from freezing. Some chain railing lined the docks instead of your typical rope railing. Barrels and crates littered the platform, some were open, others were closed, but from the look of it, most of them seemed to be filled with food that had frozen. Chained to the docks were three more of the braceras, their sails torn, and the bows shattered.

"Um… you can put me down now…" Spyro felt a little awkward just dangling from Ignitus's jaws, but Ignitus didn't put him down yet. He walked off of the docks and into the snow, only then did he slowly lower his head and gently place Spyro in the snow next to him. It was almost like a mother cat making sure they didn't hurt their baby as they set them down.

"Oh!… oh! It's really cold!"

Ignitus snickered. "Yeah… wait, shouldn't you be accustomed to the cold by know? We've been in Dante's Freezer for a while."

"Yeah… b-but I've… n-never set foot in… a-ankle high snow b-before."

"Ah, yes…"

Spyro did a little dance in the snow as he tried to warm up his paws, and Ignitus just watched in amusement. After a few seconds Spyro said, "O.K., I think we can get going again."

"Whatever do you mean?" Ignitus cocked his head in confusion.

"You know, we're gonna save one of your guardian friends… Volteer was it?"

"Ah, yes… yes…" Ignitus looked down at his paws.

"Well, let's get go'n already!" Spyro turned away from Ignitus and began to trot off.

"Spyro?" said Ignitus, holding up his right paw as if to prevent Spyro from moving any further.

Spyro stopped walking and turned around to face Ignitus. "I have to tell you something." Ignitus seemed reluctant as he said this.

"What's up?"

"I… didn't… I didn't bring you here to save Volteer…"

"What do ya mean?" Spyro squinted his eyes in confusion.

"I lied to you." Ignitus bit his lip.

"I don't understand… don't you want your friend back?"

"Of course I do! I just… don't want you to get hurt." Ignitus nervously fiddled with his paws.

"Then why'd ya bring me along?" Spyro furrowed his eyebrows in contemplation.

"Remember those apes I drove out of the temple? I deliberately let them go so they would tell Cynder where we were. Once she got their, we would be gone and she would assume we had either left, or were never there, so she would come to the conclusion that we would never go back to the temple, thusly making it a safe house."

"O.K. That's smart, but… why didn't you just tell me that's what you were doing?"

"Because if I told you, you would have wanted to stay at the temple and fight Cynder when she got their."

"So what if that's what I would've done? We could've taken her!"

"My point exactly." Ignitus sighed. "Look Spyro, I am responsible for you, and I thought I had failed long ago, but the fact that your still alive is like the ancestors are giving me a second chance, and I don't want to mess this up again."

"Look, I appreciate the gesture, but I don't need someone like you to look after me."

"Someone like me?" Ignitus lifted an eyebrow as though he were offended.

"Well… I only just met you, and now your acting like my dad." Spyro averted his gaze from Ignitus's eyes.

"Well, I am the only parental figure you have." Ignitus stated, matter-of-factly.

"I have a dad, thank you very much!" Spyro shouted indignantly. "and I decided to leave, which means, I no longer need someone look'n after me."

"Your only twelve years old, and I am not only a government official, but I happen to be the leader of the guardians." Ignitus lifted his head and spoke sternly with his chest puffed out.

"Oh! You mean the 'friends' you so desperately want to rescue?"

"I don't need your sarcasm right now!" Ignitus sighed and went limp, hunching his back and lowering his head. "Look, I know how hard being an orphan can be, but whether you like it or not, you need guidance in your life. Everyone does."

"I'm not an orphan!" Spyro spat back.

"Do you know who your parents are?" Ignitus lifted an eyebrow.

"Of course, they're…"

"Your real parents." There was a long silence.

"Well… no… I guess…" Spyro began twiddling his claws.

"I want to be the one who helps and protects you. I want to be there for you." Ignitus said in a comforting tone as his expression softened and he lowered his head to Spyro's level.

"I don't need protection! I'm perfectly capable of going it alone."

Ignitus snapped, drawing his head back up and standing tall and unmovable. "No your not! You may think you can do anything you want, but you can't, okay? You just can't, so whether you like it or not, I decide what you can and can't do, and I decide how to protect you, and I will protect you whether you like it or not!"

Spyro was left speechless, but he still had a scowl on his face. Ignitus let out a long sigh. "We will stay the night here, then in the morning, I'll take us back. In the meantime, I can teach you how to read and write." Spyro was so surprised by Ignitus's sudden outburst that he didn't even protest.

"He my dudes!" Sparx suddenly appeared out of nowhere, his smile fading after seeing Spyro and Ignitus's expressions. "Wahda I miss?" Sparx looked to Spyro for an answer.

"Where were you man? You were barely even in this chapter!"


End file.
